Alma turns the records, which he received from King Mosiah,[1]
over to Helaman. Helaman was not Alma’s
first choice. For whatever reason, he
appears not to have had confidence in Helaman’s abilities as a record
keeper. “And it came to pass that in the
same year that the people of Nephi had peace restored unto them, that Nephihah,
the second chief judge, died, having filled the judgment–seat with perfect
uprightness before God. Nevertheless, he had refused Alma to take possession of
those records and those things which were esteemed by Alma and his fathers to
be most sacred; therefore Alma had conferred them upon his son, Helaman” (Alma
50:37-38).
“[R]ather than abridging Helaman’s record for the years
66-62 BC, Mormon instead has to piece together the sequence of events himself,
based on primary sources, mainly letters, that he had at hand. In other words, Helaman may
have assembled notes and documents, but in the four years between the
end of the war and his own death, when he was busy preaching and rebuilding the
church (Alma 62:44-47), he apparently never got around to finishing his portion
of the Large Plates of Nephi. (This would also explain why, contrary to
convention in the Book of Mormon, Alma 45-62 was not made into a separate
literary unit called ‘the First Book of Helaman’—it seems that the underlying
source had been too meager and incomplete to stand on its own).”[2]
He commanded him to keep the record as he had done. Record keeping was essential to the
Lord. Nephi begins his record, “I, NEPHI,
having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the
learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my
days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea,
having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God,
therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days” (1 Nephi 1:1).
The brother of Jared was also commanded to keep a record. “AND
the Lord commanded the brother of Jared to go down out of the amount from the presence of
the Lord, and write the things which he had seen; and they were forbidden to
come unto the children of men until after that he should be lifted up upon the
cross; and for this cause did king Mosiah keep them, that they should not come
unto the world until after Christ should show himself unto his people” (Ether
4:1).
These record are kept for a wise purpose. “And now behold, this was the desire which I
desired of him—that if it should so be, that my people, the Nephites, should
fall into transgression, and by any means be destroyed, and the Lamanites
should not be destroyed, that the Lord God would preserve a record of my
people, the Nephites; even if it so be by the power of his holy arm, that it
might be brought forth at some future day unto the Lamanites, that, perhaps,
they might be brought unto salvation” (Enos 1:13).
“And I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth
me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the
Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do
according to his will” (Words of Mormon 1:7).
In addition to the plates, he gave Helaman the plates of
brass. This was the record that
contained their genealogy. “And it came
to pass that my father, Lehi, also found upon the plates of brass a genealogy
of his fathers; wherefore he knew that he was a descendant of Joseph; yea, even
that Joseph who was the son of Jacob, who was sold into Egypt, and who was
preserved by the hand of the Lord, that he might preserve his father, Jacob,
and all his household from perishing with famine. (1 Nephi 5:14).
Scriptural records enable the
hearts of the Lord’s children to turn to the hearts of the prophets, and they
enable righteous forebears to speak directly to the hearts of their
descendants. Doctrine and Covenants 128 discusses at length the importance of
record keeping in performing temple ordinances for our ancestors. This
connection between the Spirit of Elijah, redeeming the dead, and keeping holy
records seems apparent in Alma 37:3: “these plates of brass . . . have the
records of the holy scriptures upon them, which have the genealogy of our
forefathers, even from the beginning.”[3]
The records were to be handed from one generation to
another. The Book of Mormon has other examples of the plates being handed
down.
“And thus my father, Lehi, did
discover the genealogy of his fathers.
And Laban also was a descendant of Joseph, wherefore he and his fathers
had kept the records. And now when my father saw all these things, he was
filled with the Spirit, and began to prophesy concerning his seed—That these
plates of brass should go forth unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people
who were of his seed. Wherefore, he said that these plates of brass should
never perish; neither should they be dimmed any more by time. And he prophesied many things concerning his
seed” (1 Nephi 5:16-19).
“Therefore it became expedient for
Shiblon to confer those sacred things, before his death, upon the son of
Helaman, who was called Helaman, being called after the name of his father. Now
behold, all those engravings which were in the possession of Helaman were
written and sent forth among the children of men throughout all the land, save
it were those parts which had been commanded by Alma should not go forth.
Nevertheless, these things were to be kept sacred, and handed down from one
generation to another; therefore, in this year, they had been conferred upon
Helaman, before the death of Shiblon” (Alma 63:11-13).
“And now there are many records
kept of the proceedings of this people, by many of this people, which are
particular and very large, concerning them. But behold, a hundredth part of the
proceedings of this people, yea, the account of the Lamanites and of the
Nephites, and their wars, and contentions, and dissensions, and their
preaching, and their prophecies, and their shipping and their building of
ships, and their building of temples, and of synagogues and their sanctuaries,
and their righteousness, and their wickedness, and their murders, and their
robbings, and their plundering, and all manner of abominations and whoredoms,
cannot be contained in this work. But behold, there are many books and many
records of every kind, and they have been kept chiefly by the Nephites. And
they have been handed down from one generation to another by the Nephites, even
until they have fallen into transgression and have been murdered, plundered,
and hunted, and driven forth, and slain, and scattered upon the face of the
earth, and mixed with the Lamanites until they are no more called the Nephites,
becoming wicked, and wild, and ferocious, yea, even becoming Lamanites”
(Helaman 3:13-16).
In addition to continuing the record, the command was also
given to properly maintain the records.
Alma refers to maintaining their “brightness” (Alma 37:5).
Alma tells Helaman, this may appear as foolishness.[4] It is through small and simple things that
great things come to pass. Nephi wrote,
“And there was also written upon them a new writing, which was plain to be
read, which did give us understanding concerning the ways of the Lord; and it
was written and changed from time to time, according to the faith and diligence
which we gave unto it. And thus we see
that by small means the Lord can bring about great things” (1 Nephi 16:29).
In the D&C we read, “Wherefore, be not weary in
well–doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which
is great” (D&C 64:33). “Let no man count them as small things; for there is
much which lieth in futurity, pertaining to the saints, which depends upon
these things. You know, brethren, that a very large ship is benefited very much
by a very small helm in the time of a storm, by being kept workways with the
wind and the waves” (D&C 123:15-16).
This is good advice for us to remember in our lives. Many important things are completed by small
things that may seem unimportant at the time.
On one occasion I accompanied a
stake president and bishop to visit a less-active member. We taught him, in a
very simple way, about the blessings of the Sabbath. We expressed to him our
sincere love. He responded, “All I needed was to have someone come and give me
an abrazo,” or hug. I immediately stood up and embraced him. The
next day was Sunday. This same brother came to sacrament meeting with his
entire family.
During a visiting teaching visit,
Martha, a member of our ward, told my wife and her companion never to come back
again. She had decided to stop coming to church. One of the visiting teachers
asked Martha if they could sing a hymn together this one last time, and she
agreed. As they sang, something special happened. Little by little, the Spirit
began to fill the room. Each of them felt it. Martha’s heart began to soften.
With her eyes filled with tears, she expressed to her visiting teachers the
feelings of her heart. At that moment, she realized that she knew that the
gospel was true. She now thanked her visiting teachers and expressed a desire
for them to return. From that day forward, she received them with joy.
Martha began to attend church with
her young daughter. For years they attended regularly, with Martha never losing
hope that her husband might eventually choose to join them. At last the day
came when the Lord touched his heart, and he began to attend with them, as did
their other daughter soon thereafter. This family began to feel the true joy
that comes from having gospel blessings in their home. Martha has since served
faithfully as our ward Relief Society president, and her husband has served
well in several callings within the stake. All this began with the singing of a
hymn, a small and simple thing that touched Martha’s heart.[5]
“But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound
[GR shame, frustrate] the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the
world to confound the things which are mighty” (1 Corinthians 1:27).
“To prepare the weak for those things which are coming on
the earth, and for the Lord's errand in the day when the weak shall confound
the wise, and the little one become a strong nation, and two shall put their
tens of thousands to flight. And by the weak things of the earth the Lord shall
thrash the nations by the power of his Spirit” (D&C 133:58-59).
The Lord has His own means to bring about his purposes. Isiah wrote, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For
as the heavens are higher than the
earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts”
(Isaiah 55:8-9).
The story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehis also demonstrates
this. Rather than violate their
covenants and take up arms, they willingly sacrificed their lives. Ultimately, Lamanites who saw they would
rather die, they not only ceased the slaughter, but more became a part of the
Anti-Nephi-Lehis than those who died (Alma 24:21-27).
The story of Naaman is a great example of the Lord using
small means to perform great works.
“NOW Naaman, captain of the host of
the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by
him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in
valour, but he was a leper … And the
king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of
Israel. And he departed, and took with
him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces
of gold, and ten changes of raiment. And he brought the letter to the king of
Israel … [W]hen Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had
rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent
thy clothes? let him come now to me, and
he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. So Naaman came with his horses
and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha
sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy
flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. But Naaman was wroth,
and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and
stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the
place, and recover the leper. Are not
Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of
Israel? may I not wash in them, and be
clean? So he turned and went away in a
rage. And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not
have done it? how much rather then,
when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? Then went he down, and dipped
himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and
his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean” (2
Kings 5:1, 5-14).
[1] “And
now, as I said unto you, that after king Mosiah had done these things, he took
the plates of brass, and all the things which he had kept, and conferred them
upon Alma, who was the son of Alma; yea, all the records, and also the
interpreters, and conferred them upon him, and commanded him that he should
keep and preserve them, and also keep a record of the people, handing them down
from one generation to another, even as they had been handed down from the time
that Lehi left Jerusalem” (Mosiah 28:20).”
[2] Understanding
the Book of Mormon, Grant Hardy, Kindle Edition, Location 3169 to 3212.
[3] What’s
in a Word? Etymology, Cynthia L. Hallen, Journal of Book of Mormon Studies
12/1 (2003):107.
[4]“But
the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him: neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).
[5] Small
and Simple Things, Elder Arnulfo Valenzuela, October 2013 General
Conference.
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